Category: Recruitment

A Study on Perception of Employees towards E-Recruitment: Analytical Essay

Internet is a globally connected and organized network system that makes utilization of TCP/IP to transmit information through different kinds of media. With emergence of Internet from 1990’s employment practices have evolved, the transformation from billboards to newspaper’s job advertisement to online job portals and now even to social media recruitment has completely evolved the Hiring Process. This study aims to determine the factors that influence the perceptions of employees towards e- recruitment. The study indicates that factors such as user friendliness, information provision, and website usability are significantly related to the perceptions of employees towards e-recruitment. Amongst the three factors, information provision appears to be the strongest predictor. It can be said that e- recruitment will continue to gain prominence, and employers must pay considerable attention to their online recruitment information, appearance, features, and functions if they wish to attract the right job candidates.

Keywords: E-Recruitment, Online portals, Perception

Inrtoduction

Today Modern organisations are working in an unmatched, highly competitive and unstable business environment which is designated by the universality of business which has led to mobile workforce. Organisations pay a much due attention to the recruitment and selection process, as employees is the main asset. In today’s Dynamic world, ruthless competition is no longer restricted to local or regional boundaries so there arises a need for strategizing & setting in place a robust mechanism for alluring and holding top talent becomes important for the company’s survival and growth. Economy very much depends on the value created by the human resource of an organisation. Today HR professionals have been placed on heavy demand with its reversal in relation with human capital, acquisition, utilization, development, retention of employees. With changing dynamics, HR is expected to understand, conceive, innovate, implement and nourish relevant strategies and contribute effectively towards giving the company its winning edge. These efforts on the part of the company have resulted in recognizing talent as priority of the company to maintain competitive edge and talent becoming a strategic priority.

The recruitment process incurs cost as it includes the salaries of recruiters, time spent by the management on preparation of job description, advertisement cost, cost of selection, administrative cost, cost of overtime and outsourcing in case the vacancy remains unfilled. Thus, an organisation is required to gather all these relevant information so as to evaluate the performance of a recruitment process effectively.

The recruitment process is a broader concept which aims at creating a pool of eligible candidates for purpose of selection, whereas the selection process has narrow scope it aims at selecting best candidate from those who have applied for job.

The selection of candidate is the lengthiest step in recruitment process where various tests are conducted and then interview is taken which in return ensures the best suitable candidate for the job. The procedure for selection must be systematic and scientific so as to ensure no scope of doubt and confusion about the choice of selected candidates. Different markets are looked upon for different level of employees, domestic market for professional employees, regional markets for technical employees, and local markets for clerical and blue-collar employees. Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants so as to identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in the job.

The future success of the company is predominantly based on the success of human resource efforts, which evolves through the identification and attraction of quality new employees generated from the recruitment process that will stimulate organisation to development as a result of manpower skills available in the organisation. organisations have witnessed the transformation of conventional recruitment methods to online recruitment, particularly since the mid-1990s.

To match up job candidates with live vacancies, Companies and recruitment agencies have started recruiting online. By Using database technologies, online job advertising boards and search engines, employers can now fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. Internet recruitment has become a trend that has led to the emergence of a new market in which there is an unparalleled level of interaction between potential employers and employees therefore comes as no surprise. It implies publishing job opportunities online, having an online fill-in form available for applicants and a computerized database available to store the curricula received. Applicants can send their résumés via email or upload them to corporate, social networking or recruitment websites from their home or any other place with an internet connection, and directly contact the recruiter or the decision maker using this channel. This makes it not only less time consuming than traditional recruitment methods, but also more convenient and comfortable for applicants. Applicants reactions to the information on the online job ad are influenced by the perceived efficiency and ease of use, which refers to whether or not the candidate considers the job ad easy to understand and apply for .The candidates’ reaction is also influenced by the amount of information provided by the organisation regarding the job position, which should be specific and updated. In crux, the adoption of the internet as a medium by organisations for recruitment is faster than any other medium.

Literature review

FRED AND KINANGE (2016) explored the e-recruitment activities adopted by the organization, e-recruitment process has an impact on organization, performance and efficiency of recruitment process in the organization. The HR department manages the workforce diversity in culture, time zones, expertise, benefits and compensations. Secondary data was collected for this study. This study found that businesses appear to be concerned quality oriented, competent candidate for vacancies that mainly focus on the cost. Third parties play an active role in the online recruitment process such as recruitment agencies and head hunters. e- recruitment add to efficiency, effectiveness of the recruitment process, specific internet recruitment methods attribute to the organizational developments and increases performance for organizational recruiting.

NASREEM ET AL. (2016) the study found that most of the organizations in Pakistan were using both e-recruitment and traditional recruitment sources. It also revealed that the IT based organizations are not completely relying on e-recruitment. The study also indicated that majority of respondent organizations use e-recruitment for filling the top positions.

AHLAWAT AND SANGEETA (2016) explored the different sources of e-recruitment in the organization like ease of use for the organization, increasing the speed to hire, keeping ahead of competitors, cost savings, to ease of use for candidate, to provide large candidate pool. This study was a set of comprehensive overviews of e-recruitment, also to see the challenges and benefits of using online technologies. The organization used online recruitment system to track and manage candidate’s application that gives significant benefits in the term of cost and capability, efficiency to monitor on recruitment activities.

MALHOTRA & SHARMA (2016) compared with traditional recruitment process with e-recruitment advantages and disadvantages, changed in recruitment practices and strategies causes of e-recruitment tools and analysed the challenges and opportunities for both organizations and employees using e-recruitment. The study found that traditional method not be replaced by e-recruitment. It should complement. It is a fast process. In the modern time job portals are the most popular source of e-recruitment because commercial websites provide a platform for employers to meet the prospective employees.

ALAN PRICE (2012): In his work human asset the executives in a business setting, officially characterizes recruitment and determination as the way toward recovering and pulling in capable applications with the end goal of business. He expresses that the procedure of enlistment is definitely not a basic choice procedure, while it needs the board basic leadership and wide arranging so as to designate the most fitting labour. “Human asset may be thought of as the total learning, creative abilities, innovation talents and aptitude of an organisation work force, as well as the values, attitudes and benefits of an individual involved”

SAKS (2012): Recruitment involves set actions and activities taken by an organisation in order to identify and attract individuals who have the capabilities to help the organisation realize its strategic objectives such activities should generate a pool of desirable candidates; enhance their interest in and attraction to the organisation as an employer; and increase the probability that they will accept a job offer. This definition makes explicit the difference between the functions of Recruitment and of Selection (which follows Recruitment) and highlights the link between recruitment and organisational strategy (goals and objectives). Another important contribution by Saks is the identification of three phases in the recruitment process: Application, Interaction, and Job offer.

EDWIN B. FLIPPO (2013): Recruitment is the process of searching, seeking the candidates for employment and attracting, stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation.

PARRY & WILSON (2015): stated that recruitment includes those practices and activities carried out by the organisation with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees. E-Recruiting is using the internet to recruit through corporate websites, specialized websites or online advertisement.

GALANAKI (2016): Recruitment is a vital function of human resource management, which can be defined as the process of searching the right talent and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. It is the process of discovering the sources of personnel to meet the requirements of the staffing agenda and attracting the adequate number of employees, as to be able to make the effective selection among the applicant’s employees.

SCHREYER AND MCCARTER (2010): defines Internet recruitment as the recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource databases with candidates and incumbents.

LIEVENS AND HARRIS (2011): There are five approaches to Internet recruitment, including company websites, job boards, e-recruiting, relationship recruiting, and surreptitious approaches.

SINGH AND FINN (2013): Internet recruitment provides many advantages to recruiters and job seekers. For recruiters, the use of the Internet enables firms to enhance their growth in their ability to attract the right quality (in terms of appropriate levels of knowledge, attitude, skills and aptitudes) and quantity of human resources at any given time.

In views of CASCIO (2012), Growing globalization and the use of new technologies, among other phenomena, have led to changes in the job market. In an ever-changing context where new technologies experience rapid development, Online Recruitment (OR) is an important source of recruitment.

New Recruitment Process for Teachers in Public Primary Schools and Its Implication to Quality Teachers in Tanzania

Background to the problem

General introduction

Human resource is one of the most significant developments in the field of organizations which has been given increasing importance. People are vital to organizations as they offer perspectives, values and attributes to organizational life; and when managed effectively, these human traits can be of considerable benefits to the organization (Ekwoaba et al, 2015). This is so because the development of people, their competencies, and the process development of the total organization are the fulcrum of human resource management (HRM) (Mullins, 1999 and Djabatey, 2012).

Recruitment is one of the functions of HRM which has a great impact on the organization performance. Walker (2009) argues that recruitment process is an important part of HRM which should be done with proper strategic planning. With this regard, before any link with applicants, human resource planning must check out current and future staffing needs including identifying the optimum number of employees.

According to National University of Ireland (NUI) (2006) most recruitment processes comprise the elements of subjective judgement inherent in them. But treating job applicants in a professional and positive manner is more likely to leave them, whether they are successful or not, with a positive view of the organization and how it has dealt with the applicants. However, experience shows that a successful appointment can bring favourable results which impact on the wider aspects of organizational life while a poor one can have damaging effects far outside the organization in which it is made. Also, the recruitment and selection of employees provides an opportunity for the organization to present itself in a favourable light (NUI, 2006).

Recruitment process in any organization is a serious HRM function as the success of any organization or efficiency in service delivery or high productivity of staff depends on the quality of its workforce who was recruited into the organization through recruitment assignment (Aduma & Iyida, 2016). Since recruitment involve getting the best applicant for a job, it is only reasonable that recruitment procedures and policies that provide a large pool of qualified applicants will have a substantial influence over the quality and type of skills new employees possess or their productivity (Obikeze & Obi, 2004). In relation to this notion, Bohlander et al, (2001) notes that managers should understand the objectives, policies and practices used for recruitment including having right information upon which to base their decisions if productivity in organizations are to be met.

Similarly, it is argued that organization’s recruitment policies and practices shape the employee behaviours and attitudes that consequently will have impact on productivity (Robbins, 2005). The major part of an organization’s overall resourcing strategies is strongly associated with recruitment process. This in advance identifies and secures people needed for an organization to survive and succeed in the short to medium-term (Elwood, 1996). Indeed, the main purpose of recruitment is to form a pool of suitably qualified candidates to enable the selection of the best candidates for the organization, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organization in which the right candidate is chosen to occupy a position in the organization (Gamage, 2014). Moreover, it is said that there is a positive and significant relationship between recruitment and the performance of an enterprise (Sang, 2005). Generally, from the discussion above, the conclusion can be drawn that when the best qualified people are recruited for the job, productivity or effectiveness and efficiency are likely to increase. Therefore, HR managers at all levels of the organisation need to pay much attention when planning to recruit human resources.

Basically, in HRM, teachers like any other human resources in the organization pass through a certain recruitment process which may be more or less similar with other cadres. Thus, teachers’ recruitment procedures are crucial in being one of the significant factors in providing effective teachers (Berry, et al 2009). It is true that there has been an overarching concern over the importance of teacher education and teacher preparation programme over the recent decades because they represent one of the input-driven approaches toward educational reform. However, little research has delved into the issue of recruitment procedures and practices in order to shed light on how teachers are basically recruited, selected, screened and hired (ibd).

It is realistic that a teacher is part and parcel of the teaching and learning process in any nation. According to Abdou (2012), the processes of teachers’ preparation and recruitment should be viewed as a continuum since all of the above elements are interrelated. Effective recruitment strategies aim at providing schools equitably with quality teachers. In the light of this perception, it is wise to say that the appropriate recruitment procedure impacts on the quality of the teachers. On the other hand, educational experts and researchers argue that teachers’ recruitment is one of the most significant determinants of students’ academic achievement (Berry et al, 2010).

According to Tanzania Education Sector Analysis (TESA) (2009), primary and secondary schools teachers are civil servants and their recruitment is guided by the public service Act of Employment, Issue Nº2, of September 2008, thus, the role of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) is to train enough qualified teachers to meet the demand of the schools and to monitor the adequacy of teachers’ numbers and qualifications while, the President’s Office for Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) is responsible for the coordination of teachers’ recruitment and their deployment across local government authorities (LGAs).

Therefore, the process of recruitment of both primary and secondary teachers has to be done in consideration with teachers’ quality simply because the better achievement in education to students depends on the qualification of the teacher. However, this may be affected by some factors including fund constraints. The study of Mwasi (2012) depicts that, inadequate budgetary allocation is the challenge facing municipal councils in Tanzania. It is proposed that, in order to ensure that all students have teachers with the subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills necessary to help them achieve to high academic standards, regardless of their individual learning styles or needs there should be substantial funding. The fund enables recruiting and training highly qualified teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2010).

In terms of competence, some scholars have argued that teacher competence is a function of teacher qualifications (Aghenta, 2000). How competent a teacher could be in teaching seems to depend largely on teacher’s qualification. This contention is supported by Mullen’s (1993) argument that the level of a teacher’s subject matter competence is a prime predictor of pupils’ learning. He argued that it is not only the qualifications obtained by a teacher that could contribute to a teacher’s quality but actual achievement in terms of subject matter competence.

According to some scholars, most of the developing countries face the challenge of shortage and qualified teachers. This has been pointed out by Zafeirakou (2007), Cooper & Alvarado (2006), and OECD (2005) that, one main challenge that the sub-Saharan region countries have to deal with is to recruit schools with teachers that are sufficient in both quality and quantity. Tanzania like any other Sub-Saharan region countries has no exceptional in recruiting the quality teachers through the appropriate recruiting criteria. With such experience, HAKI ELIMU (2008) pointed out that Tanzania needs quality teachers who will help to produce experts in order that, the problems of ignorance can be solved. The minimum education qualification of primary schools teachers is Grade A and above certificate qualification while the minimum qualification of secondary school teachers’ is diploma and bachelor degree (TESA, 2009). In such circumstances, it is important to adhere to these qualifications when planning for recruitment.

Statement of the Problem

For a long time, the Ministry responsible for education has been recruiting teachers directly from educational institutions (crash training programme teachers) and giving them short training ready to overcome the shortage of teachers in Tanzania. As a result secondary school teachers who did not have enough teaching knowledge were forced to attend in-service training and attain either Diploma in Education or Bachelor in Education in order to provide the required knowledge to the students. The same applied to Primary school teachers, the majority of whom had Grade A Certificates in Education and even some had grade C certificates which were attained during Universal Primary Education (UPE) crash training programme (Laddunuri, 2012).

Such recruitment system of this nature leads to deployment of unqualified teachers and this has been a common problem in Tanzania. This is according to the study of Laddunuri (2012) which revealed a high proportion of unqualified teachers in both rural and urban areas inthe country. Indeed, recruitment of unqualified teachers not only affects students’ academic performance, but also, it leads to setbacks of education sector. This supports Bryant (2014) argument that, lack of qualified teachers is one of many factors contributing to the low educational advancements in Tanzania.

Currently there is a new recruitment process for Public Primary School (PPS) and Public Secondary Schools (PSS) teachers coordinated by the ministry of PO-RALG whereby teachers have to apply for the vacancies after their teachers training studies when announcement of the vacancies has been issued. According to the ministry of PO-RALG (2017), the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced the teaching vacancies for the first time on 1st December, 2016 in which teachers were required to apply for. On 12th April, 2017 the ministry of PO-RALG issued the name of selected applicants in which they were required to report direct to their respective schools posted from the ministry.

The new recruitment system used raise concern on various issues including the quality of teachers. For stance, the new recruitment system is considered as an appropriate way to recruit teachers of good teaching qualification in which application system for the candidate is used and the qualified teachers are selected and recruited rather than recruiting all teachers directly from colleges immediately after graduating. Also, it is thought that the new recruitment system intends to limit the number of teachers to be recruited. Therefore, in such scenario the study seeks to assess the new recruitment system.

Objectives of the study

Specifically the study aims at:

1. Identify criteria used in the new recruitment process.
2. Examining the effects brought about by this new recruitment process.
3. Analyzing the constraints encountered in this recruitment process
4. Giving recommendations on the new recruitment process.

Research questions

On studying the new recruitment process for teachers in PPS and its implication to quality teachers in Tanzania the following questions will be asked;

1. What are the criteria used in the new recruitment process?
2. What are the effects of the new recruitment process?
3. What are the constraints encountered from such recruiting process?
4. What are the appropriate recommendations on the new recruitment process?

Significance of the study

This study will add new knowledge to the following:

The study will enable human resource management practitioners to implement the policies pertaining recruitment process. Also, the study will help policy makers and planners to formulate and restructure policies that will improve the teachers’ quality and hence providing best education.

The study will add to the existing literature on human resource planning and development particularly on public teachers’ recruitment process. Therefore, this will be important to the academic community and decision makers who deal directly with the recruitment and to make meaningful proposals and suggestion to improve the recruitment criteria to public schools teachers in Tanzania.

It will afford the ministry responsible for teachers’ recruitment in Tanzania (PO-RALG) the opportunity to identify the effectiveness and efficiency of the new recruitment process and challenges facing the system and seek solutions to them.

Scope of the study

The study will be delimited to investigate new recruitment process for teachers. The study is further delimited to PPS teachers in schools and in the head office of PO-RALGA in Dar es Salaam, and thus, the availability and accessibility of information for a researcher will be easy. Also, this will facilitate mobility to target population as well as to cut down cost comparatively.

Literature review

Methods of recruitment

Herman (1994) identifies two methods of recruitment namely; internal and external recruitment.

Internal recruitment.

According to Herman (1994), there are three ways to recruit from within the organization. One of them is involving the manager to present a transfer plan of a particular person to the supervisor to whom that particular employee is currently reporting. If there is an agreement between the parties a transfer plan of specific key position for promotion is made. The method is considered to be unfair and biased by other candidates especially for those who are seeking leadership vacancies. The other two internal recruitment ways suggested by Herman are job posting and searching employer’s skill inventories and succession plans

External recruitment.

The external recruitment methods involve recruiting employees from outside of the organization. This is when, for example, employees in the organization are say, transferred or promoted within the organization there becomes a vacant position which should be filled, in some cases, externally.

Recruitment procedures

Recruitment is a process by which an organisation ensures that the qualified candidates fill the position applied for. Gross and DeArmond (2011) argue that recruitment as part of a human capital strategy that appropriately matches the requirement of public schools, often means approaching teacher recruitment and selection differently. According to the Delaware Center for Public Education (CPE) (2008), Delaware Department of Education (DDE) (2012), and Centre on Great Teachers and Leaders (CGT) (2015), the key comprehensive process for teacher recruitment and any other human resource include;

Examining current status of staffing needs

Before developing a comprehensive recruitment approach, the current status of staffing needs and recruitment should be examined. For example, the assessment of staffing needs involves qualifications and experience in which the current employees available with their education qualification and working experience should be considered. Also, the number of candidate need to fill the gap available should be identified (DDE, 2012).

Developing timelines for recruitment and selection

The most effective recruitment and selection is a year-round job that requires creativity and entrepreneurship to make sure that the best candidates are recruited (Gross & DeArmond, 2011). Recruitment by the end of the year enables organization including school to have an opportunity to compete for top candidates (TNTP, 2012).

Developing recruitment materials

A key aspect of a comprehensive recruitment process is for an organization to have the updated clear recruitment materials available for applicants through various sources and strategies. Those recruitment materials include; recruitment brochures, recruitment webpage, email address with application information (TNTP, 2012).

Creating an ideal candidate profile for screening and selection

Before beginning any recruiting process TNTP (2012) recommends that a general idea that is attached to the vision, culture, and performance expectations of organization should be developed for a candidate.This will be helpful for the applicants to reflect on their comfort level with these competencies before applying. In addition, it is suggested that the general idea to is be used during the screening and selection process.

Aligning all recruitment messages

Hayes & Behrstock (2009) note that recruitment messages have to address organization’s goal. For instance, if it is to recruit teachers committed to raising student performance, all messages should communicate that goal consistently.

Inefficiency and Inadequacy in the Recruitment Process in New Zealand Universities: Analytical Essay

The Universities in New Zealand have very high expectations from the potential candidates for filling up the position of academic staff. They need to have at least a Ph.D. and an excellent publication record in academic journals of good impact factor. The universities follow an outdated and archaic approach through newspaper advertisements and also, by referrals from the academic staff. The recruitment process is exceptionally slow, highly decentralized and is usually accorded to the heads of academic departments, who are not trained in the recruitment process. Such an inefficiency and inadequacy in the recruitment process leading to the selection of less desirable employees. Also, another factor that hampers the recruitment of staff at the senior academic level is low remunerations, that make it almost infeasible to fill up such vacancies. The recruitment channels currently used by New Zealand Universities are inappropriate, as more nuanced research, points to the flaws present in the different recruitment channels as elicited below:

1. College placement offices:

They have a few advantages as it makes it possible to select good quality candidates within a short period and students get hired even before the completion of their course. Moreover, students undergoing an internship may have possibilities of direct recruitment to the job positions offered by companies. It also builds company loyalty and enhances selection ratio. However, it is somewhat flawed as it makes few assumptions. It considers that Individuals have already been pre-screened by their cumulative grade scores. Although these recruits can be academically well established, they would not possess relevant experience in the field. Experienced candidates are likely to perform better than the new graduates, as the latter would require additional training and constant feedback from the higher officials which prolongs their time to full productivity which also adds up to the cost of training as a mark-up over the employee’s salary.

2. Employment agencies:

The recruitment agencies hire professionals who are experts in the recruitment process and hence they can help universities to fill up vacant positions in less time. However, such recruiting agencies don’t effectively deal with the concerns that University or the employee may have. They are usually motivated by profits and have been shown to incline towards favouritism. Recruitment agencies demand a high fee from the universities for their services offered. Also, there is less possibility of universities having control over the hiring process and direct access to the candidates. There are also wide disparities among various agencies in the screening process followed by them. Some agencies screen candidates more effectively than other agencies prior to the referral. Also, individuals may favour an agency owned by a private owner or by public depending upon their abilities, skills and work ethics.

3. Newspaper advertisements:

Most of the vacancies for the post of lecturer and senior lecturer are advertised in the University Staff bulletin and on the career website of the University. The jobs at Universities in New Zealand are also advertised online in New Zealand and Australia job sites like seek and trade me. They are also given in the print media like Daily times and newspapers. It is seen that newspaper targets mostly aged and experienced job seekers. It’s advisable to advertise through social media if the university is seeking younger professionals. Also, newspaper advertising helps Universities hire locally as it specifically focuses on specific geographical location (Breaugh, 2008). So, a University can hire a similar type of applicants. To attract a different type of applicants especially from different ethnic backgrounds, it would be advisable to give advertisements for the vacancies in different types of newspapers. Moreover, some newspapers are considered more prestigious than the others; hence it could signal that top positions are advertised only in certain papers.

4. Employee referrals:

The employee referral plays a crucial role in the recruitment process especially in the context of a University. Employee referrals help in employing better quality candidates that fit for the role and it helps in higher retention. The job applicants recruited via employee referrals are more likely to be interviewed and receive jobs (Breaugh, 2008). There has been research on the use of employee referrals as a recruitment method and it is proven that employee believes that referrals offer advantages over other methods. However, few shortcomings are associated with the recruitment process such as it might lead to charges of discrimination. Few considerations must be analyzed when hiring a job applicant based on the referral i.e. if the referrer is aware of the position that is to be filled and what has been his/her past performance and if the referrer is apprehensive about his reputation.

The recruitment process is slow as the positions for new recruitments are not advertised until the incumbent leave the position and the process takes an exceedingly long time even once they have vacated. Another problem is that the brand image of University has an impact on the recruitment outcome. A positive reputation of the company increases the number of applicants thereby enhancing the ability of the University to make finer distinctions and be more selective. Universities can use advertisements and publicity to create a positive brand image which might give it a competitive advantage as its being valuable, rare, hard to imitate. It’s important to position University as a unique place to work.

The recruitment methods that could be adopted by the New Zealand universities alternative to the current methods in order to hire efficient and the most suitable employees are as follows:

Video Interviewing:

Video interviewing is one of the major academic recruitments, that has gained a wide reputation in recent times, where the applicants are asked to submit a recorded video answering the set of pre-determined questions. This method is more beneficial, especially in the case of overseas applicants. The advantages of this method are:

1. Video interviewing is helpful for applicants to schedule their interview conveniently in their own time.
2. As all the candidates are demanded to answer the same questions within the stipulated time, it will help the university to compare the answers and select the potential candidates.
3. The HR departments also require less time for screening the candidates through videos, as it helps to determine the suitability for the post within a short while.
4. It also improves the quality of hire as more time can be spent on well-deserving applicants.
5. Also, the recorded videos of qualified recruits can be reviewed more than once and passed on to other departments of the university to ascertain their recruitment.

Social Media:

Social Media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are more popular around the globe with its growing number of users each day. It opens opportunities to reach fresh and young talents also categorizing the candidates according to their demography, skills, interests, and previous work experiences. Social media recruitments are more advantageous in the following aspects:

1. Social media are very helpful in judging and choosing the right candidates based on their personal activities, thus giving a deeper insight into the universities on their eligibility for the position applied.
2. It can be completed in a relatively lesser time frame than the traditional recruitment methods. Also, many of the social media recruitments being cheaper or almost free of cost can result in huge savings for the university.
3. Job postings listed in the university social media page are constantly being followed by the interested candidates, which encourage them to come forward and actively engage to chat, post comments and active conversations in a group.
4. Social recruiting increases the online reputation of the university and thus helps in gaining strength and trust from the applicants. Brands having higher social media presence are considered more trustworthy.
5. Most recruits found on social media will have technically sound skills, will be more productive and last longer after recruitment.

Mobile Recruitment:

The other alternative recruitment method that can be implemented by a University is Mobile recruitment, which is a method of connecting the potential candidates and the recruiters through smartphones. Smartphones are widely being used by everyone around the globe. Thus, recruiting via mobile helps the universities have easy and direct access to the candidates through mobile recruiting apps.

Image Retrieved from: https://learn.canterbury.ac.nz/pluginfile.php/1463470/mod_forum/attachment/620952/SHRM-Social-Media-Recruiting-Screening-2015.pdf

As indicated by SHRM, about 66% of the organization has been taking steps to incorporate mobile recruitment. The two major advantages of mobile recruitment are:

1. As the main means of communication here are the smartphones, which has become an essential part of our daily lives, the entire process of recruitment can be managed and controlled from anywhere and at any convenient time frames.
2. The candidates in search of a job would be an active user of the mobile recruitment apps, thus enabling the university recruitment team to connect easily and recruit well-talented applicants.

Internal Websites:

Internal websites are yet another recruitment strategy, that is gaining popularity in many universities around the world.

Image Retrieved from: http://massey-careers.massey.ac.nz/Default.aspx

As shown in the above figure, in this method of recruitment, the universities post information about their vacancies and job descriptions in their internal websites. The candidate who is looking for the job in a particular university can enter their official website, check for the job vacancy and other related information under the careers section and then apply for their desired position. This will help their resume to be directly sent to the university HR team and increase their probability of selection than applying through other means of recruitment.

Virtual Reality Recruiting:

Virtual reality recruiting is one of the modern recruitment methods, which uses advancing VR technology to recruit the potentially right candidates. The benefits of VR recruitment method are

1. The first and foremost benefit is the immersive experience than printed material or a video. Using VR, it can attract young and enthusiastic talents, by showing them the real-time experience of being there in the university by simulating their sensory impulses. There is no other better way to explain the university culture to the academic staffs rather than making them feel their actual presence in the place.
2. The second benefit is the assessment of the applicants. After making them feel the experience of physically being present in the university, the candidates who enjoyed the experience are more likely to apply and can be more dedicated to work.

Internal Recruiting:

Internal Recruiting is also one of the important methods of recruiting. Even though other methods like video interviewing, social media interview, etc. can play an important role in selecting an ideal candidate, sometimes the universities may also end up in choosing the candidate who is unsuitable for the position and the entire process has to be repeated. It may be cost-intensive and time-consuming.

Instead, the university can focus on Internal Recruiting which is the process of selecting a student who has completed the Ph.D. degree in the particular university with good academic records and possesses other skills required for the job. The advantages of internal recruitment are:

1. The university, the HR department and even the particular Heads of the Department will have some background knowledge about the candidate and can also obtain the required information from their internal records.
2. The cost of internal recruitment is less compared to other methods as it will reduce the costs of ads, background checks, and other onboard processes.
3. It is also beneficial for the candidates, as they would already know about the culture and the workspace of the university. This could also reduce the time taken for training the selected candidates.
4. The internal candidates are much easier to find and thus, reduces the recruitment time.

Advantages of Online Recruitment:

1) Low cost:

In online recruitment, the cost incurred for publishing the job postings in the internal websites or the social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc is comparatively lesser or almost free of cost than the publishing it in the newspapers. It also offers the great advantage of editing the posts whenever needed owning to the fluctuations during the hiring process.

2) Reduction in Time:

The other advantage of the University recruiting online is that it saves time, thereby, hastening the recruitment process. It also minimizes the paperwork and enables the storage of candidate details in the online database, which helps the university to appoint the potential candidates meeting the specified requirements. Therefore, it has been estimated that online recruitment saves almost 25 to 30% of the HR time involved in the recruitment process (Workforce, 2000a as cited in Galanaki, 2002). The process is not only favourable for the university recruiters but also to the job seekers as they can modify their resume thereby keeping it regularly updated.

3) Able to reach a wider range of applicants:

In contrast to the conventional recruitment methods, e-recruitment which facilitates the use of the internet helps the university to outstretch the potential candidates and create job openings for the people around the globe, thereby, overcoming the geographical boundaries. In turn, the candidates also respond expeditiously to the jobs posted online and utilize the job opportunities. The initial selection methods like psychometric tests can be done using video interviewing, further easing the recruitment process.

4) Instant Feedback:

The other benefit of online recruitment is that it helps in providing better and instant feedback to the candidates, which not only ameliorates the recruitment process but also the University stature among the candidates.

Disadvantages of Online Recruitment:

One of the major disadvantages of online recruitment is the surfeit of applications. As mentioned earlier, the Internet cannot be confined to a particular geographical location. Therefore, the lack of barriers helps the candidates to fill the application form, submit their CV’s from anywhere around the world (Workforce, 2000a as cited in Galanaki, 2002). This might be a serious impediment to the University, to choose the potential candidate.

Though the e-recruitment process saves the cost and time, it does not remain uncomplicated. The initial cost involved for the university to set up the database to store the candidates’ information, a dedicated computer system to handle the entire process is expensive. If the university is not equipped with the technology and software, it might turn into intricate and a time-consuming process.

In online recruitments involving selection methods through mail communication, it might become a hurdle to the candidates to express themselves personally to the recruiter. This can lead to candidates not being able to explicit some of the skills and strengths to the employer (Alves 2005; Gomes, 2011 as cited in Brandão, Silva and dos Santos, 2019).

From the employee point of view, the e-recruitment process is mostly perceived as suitable for Freshers and IT-related jobs seekers. The experienced academic professionals don’t find the internet as their first option for searching Jobs.

The other disadvantage in incorporating online recruitment process in the University is that in some situations it might be biased against an international potential candidate who doesn’t use internet or against countries like China where social media sites like Facebook has been banned.

The decentralized approach of the recruitment process has an impact on the applicant reactions. The applicant reactions are the way applicants perceive and react to the recruitment process (Ployhart, 2006). The applicants can have different perceptions of the selection process especially regarding the fairness of the process. The applicants seem to favour the process that they perceive to be consistent, reliable and valid. If applicants perceive that approach followed by Universities is non-valid or not reliable, it will influence their reactions and the outcome of the selection process. Such reactions of applicants matter to the Universities that are actively competing for talent. A biased selection procedure can lead to negative reactions from the applicant and this will lead to the recruitment of non-desirable candidates. To attract talented applicants, the University needs to consider the applicant reactions before selecting and implementing the recruitment process.

The characteristics of the recruiter influence recruitment outcomes. When the recruiters don’t have the essential training in the recruitment or selection process, such a process adversely impact the perception of the University or its brand image. The outcome of such a flawed decentralized recruitment process is the high turnover of the candidates and the loss of potentially desirable candidates (Ployhart, 2006).

To make the recruitment process more efficient, the academics and head of the department must be given training in the recruitment process. The head of departments needs formal training in supervision, administration and in the recruitment process so that they become adept in hiring desirable staff members. But such training will require extra resources and funds that may not be viable for Universities that are already under financial distress.

Another plausible option could be to involve only Human resources officials in the recruitment process i.e. to centralize the entire selection process of academics in a University. The Human resources role at universities needs to undergo a paradigm shift. The role at present is transactional where HR performs tasks like collecting resumes, scheduling interviews and providing orientation sessions for new employees. There must be a new role of a strategic partner involved in the recruitment of faculty by developing compensation strategies, performance management and leadership development. HR must be given the opportunity to gain a broad level of functional skills and institutional knowledge by working with different departments.

The recruitment agencies like Fisher leadership can be employed for the hiring process as such organizations possess the skills and experience to choose the right candidates for the job.

Employer Branding is a process of constructing and cultivating the University’s Brand. The recruitment outcomes depend upon the employer’s brand. The applicants are bound to choose the firm with a better reputation as it signals better job attributes (Cable and Turban, 2003 as cited in Edwards, 2010). Positive employer Branding for University will help them to attract new academic staffs and retain the existing ones. Employer Branding makes the University stand out among the other universities both in New Zealand and in the global talent market. (Edwards, 2010).

There are many ways in which Paul and his team can enhance UC’s employer brand as per employer branding research (Edward, 2010) as elicited below: –

1. The company’s reputation has an impact upon the interest of applicants in the University as the choice for work. The reputation of a University depends upon factors like profitability, corporate social responsibility and on its ethnical diversity. The academic performance of students and their achievements in extra-curricular activities is also an indicator of the reputation of a University. The advertising campaigns, online advertisements and word of mouth advertising can be used to enhance the brand image of the University by making people widely acknowledge its reputation.
2. Employee branding considers current and potential employees as branding targets. This technique can be incorporated in the University to retain the most efficient and experienced academic staffs and also, to attract the new academic staffs by providing them with good salary packages and additional bonuses. As mentioned earlier, it’s observed that New Zealand universities are paying comparatively lesser salaries for the academic staffs in comparison to countries like US, UK or European countries. By paying them higher salaries depending on their skills and creating an amazing workspace for the current academic staffs, it will help them to create value and attract more quality academic staffs which in turn helps in building the reputation of the University.
3. The branded image of the University of Canterbury also depends upon the psychological contract content that ranges from transactional, relational to ideological. A psychological contract refers to the individual’s belief regarding the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange between the employee and the University. Employees have certain anticipations regarding employment offering and it is up to the University to satisfy those expectations. Similarly, University has a certain set of expectations from the employees that form its employment experience. Good experience at both the ends can enhance the University’s brand image.
4. The brand of the University of Canterbury also depends upon the organizational identity that shows that University possess certain distinctive characteristics. High level of organizational identity depends upon the ability of the organization to engage in open communication, be supportive and fair to its employees. The organization has the potential to become part of an employee’s identity and in this way, employees can relate themselves to the organization in a better way which in turn enhances its brand image.
5. The brand image also relies on symbolic and instrumental personality characteristics. Instrumental attributes refer to the characteristics of an organization such as location, size, and stability of an organization. The instrumental characteristics refer to the physical and tangible attributes having a strong transactional element like the money benefits and financial incentives such as increment in the wages. It includes a physical package and additional bonus. The symbolic attributes are linked with the relational aspect and signify high value-based employer brand. A university can strengthen both its symbolic and instrumental personality attributes to eventually strengthen its brand value in the eyes of the public. The symbolic attributes provide differentiation among competitors as such characteristics are the source of competitive advantage and they are valuable, rare and hard to imitate (VRIO).

Human Resource (HR) Recruitment and Challenges in the Industry 4.0 Framework

Abstract:

‘Industry 4.0’, known also as the fourth industrial revolution is likely to impact the professional field of Human resources (HR). The new emerging reality of Automation and digitization is expected to bring about changes in all aspects of business management. Already, the corporate world is abuzz with concepts such as: Redefining sourcing and recruitment, Virtual Reality (VR) in Onboarding, removing redundancies in HR operations, Redefining learning for making it more relevant, Employee engagement apps etc. Corporates of today would require a successful ‘Smart HR Recruitment 4.0’ strategy to cope up with the challenges of Industry 4.0. Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IOT), Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have already begun to automate most HR processes, thereby resulting in efficient and leaner HR teams. Both organization structures and leadership style changes would be required for efficient and successful Smart HR 4.0 implementation. Thereby allowing HR departments to play a more strategic role in the overall organization growth. This paper discusses such changes that have happened in the recruitment function and how the HR profession can effectively address the challenges of Industry 4.0.

Keywords: Industry 4.0, Smart H.R. Recruitment, Emerging technology, HR.

I. Objectives of the paper:

This paper has been written keeping in mind the following objectives:

• To trace the history of recruitment.
• To examine as to how recruitment was done during the ‘dark ages of recruitment’.
• To become aware of ‘Industry 4.0’ and consequently HR recruitment 4.0.

II. An overview of recruitment :

In simple terms, recruitment has been a “process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job opening, in a timely and cost-effective manner”. (1) Traditionally it has been done by analyzing the requirements of a job, attracting employees to that job, screening and selecting applicants, hiring, and integrating the new employee on board to the organization.

[bookmark: _Hlk1066701]Broadly speaking, end-to-end recruitment sees to attracting, screening, selecting and onboarding (2) a suitable candidate for an existing vacancy. The steps encompassing in it can be been seen in the form of a flowchart later. Apart from those steps, recruiters or the recruitment function may involve in preparing offer letters as well as inducting them once the candidates join the organization. Interviews, as a part of recruitment, may be undertaken by in-house managers, members of the HR /recruitment team or certain experts. It may be also be done by recruitment firms, search firms and consultants.

III. Basic definitions of recruitment:

Recruitment, also referred to as ‘Staffing’, can be regarded as a procedure of collecting of suitable people for filling open positions in a company. It can be regarded as the preliminary stage of the entire system. Some scholars have defined it thus: (3)

• a) According to Edwin B Flippo, “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs, in the organization”.
• b) In the words of Yoder, “Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force”.
• c) “ Recruitment is the process [of] discovering potential for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies”. – DeCenzo and Robbins.
• d) As per William B. Werther and Keith Davis, it is the “ discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies………”.

IV. Recruitment process- a flowchart:

The process of recruitment is embarked upon once the job prerequisites have been understood and evaluated. It involves searching for such candidates who could be encouraged to apply for the vacancies that the company has. A typical recruitment process would consist of the steps mentioned in the flow-chart (4) as discussed earlier. It can be found in the following page:

(RECRUITMENT PLANNING)

(STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT)

(SEARCHING)

(SCREENING)

(EVALUATION AND CONTROL)

V. History of recruitment:

The earliest example of recruitment can be traced to identifying those labourers who were instrumental in building the Pyramids in Egypt and the Great Wall of China. (5) As civilization developed, the concept of choosing one’s vocation started to gradually emerge. At that juncture, the industrial revolution brought about a plethora of changes in the way work was being conducted. Many non-governmental enterprises began to enter the market which consequently affected the hiring function. Hitherto, it used to happen at the base level and a major change occurred in the form of hiring that populace who had an expertise or specialization in a particular trade . In some cases, it used to happen face to face and, in some instances, the applicants were subjected to tests. This was to see if they knew the work they were expected to perform if hired. When enterprises were not able to get people from the vicinity of their operations, they resorted to hiring outstation people. At times, they would transfer their existing manpower to those locations where their facilities would be located.

At times, a written test would be administered to incumbents. If they ‘passed it’, they would be made to face an interview. But prior to the interview stage lay the problem of checking if the answers posed in the questionnaire were desirable and accurate! Therefore, recruitment was turning out to be a cumbersome affair apart from time consuming. In India, local recruitment was the norm followed, those days, for industries that had been set up either by the British or local entrepreneurs. Since the fight for freedom was on, not much emphasis was placed on the labour class or the conditions that they worked in. The situation was no different in the Western world as it faced periodic and internal strife. The World War I (1914-1918) and The Second World War (1939-1945) added to the woes of the populace and the labour class. The former at least saw to the emergence of the present-day job recruitment . Here, advertisements were placed by recruitment bureaus so that eligible men could enlist themselves for serving in the armed forces. All these incidents saw to recruitment emerge as a function post the 1950’s in the Western World which subsequently had an impact on India which had attained its independence few years prior.

Having seen certain mentioned issues in recruiting, the last decade of the previous [20th]century saw the emergence of online job boards. These saw to easing the recruitment process as it eliminated the ‘paper and pen’ interface as well as reduced involvement of the HR department workforce. Technology saw to streamline the entire process as well as saw to shortlisting and subsequent selection become easier. Few companies would actually send out forms that incumbents could fill is as a registration form.

The norm, especially from the dawn of the new millennium [ 21st century] has been the usage of ‘Talent Acquisition systems’. These systems are cloud based and hence, execution and maintenance become a relatively easier process. Though it involves significant monetary investment, it sees to tests being evaluated instantly once they have been completed.

Before the advent of technology in recruitment, companies had to resort to traditional techniques to attract suitable manpower to join them. Some of these are still in vogue and are listed herewith: (6)

• Paper AD’s: Apart from the being the easiest way to recruit, advertisements (AD’s) are known to be equally effective.
• Job postings at employment agencies: Employment agencies are typical places where job aspirants would visit to find a job.
• Temporary agencies: They can be referred to as temp agencies or temp staffing agencies. Apart from shortlisting suitable incumbents based on experience, they make the recruitment job easier for companies.
• Internal hiring: This technique is adopted by firms to encourage those individuals who are already part of the organization by placing them in jobs that are existing. By this, the individual would know the position for which they are being hired for as well as the work that is expected out of them.

VI. Dark ages of recruitment:

The era before the advent of the facsimile (FAX) machines, Internet, job portals, social media etc. to facilitate recruitment can be termed as the ‘dark ages of recruitment’. (7)

Recruitment, as a function, had always been carried out quite effectively even before this phase. And it still has been even today without any disruption in the present. However, those recruiters who worked in that critical ‘era’ underwent these challenges listed below and emerged successful despite the rigour:

• Qualifying a job order: Any Job Description (JD) that is typical of the recruitment that happens in today’s scenario was not in existence back then. Recruiters had to get it via the telephone or by meeting the hiring manager/ client face to face!
• Telephone screening: This is used to be the norm of the day back then. Recruiters used to efficiently screen potential candidates over the phone most times. Those who didn’t fit the bill were dealt with empathy and offered direction at times!
• Selling candidates: The onus of recruiters back then was to call up a prospective candidate and ‘sell them in’ when it came to the opening. All this was done by merely going through the Curriculum Vitae (Cv)/ résumé of the candidate.
• Urgency!: This was in the case of walk-in candidates wherein recruiters would try all the tricks in the bag to ensure that the job incumbent went back with a job offer in hand. They would ensure all possible ways to ‘ensnare’ candidates so that they didn’t walk up to a competitor [recruiter] and avail placement from them! All this and more were done just to ensure that the client got the person they were looking out for without any time lag.
• Memory!: A recruiter back then was blessed with a memory befitting an elephant when it was related to their candidates. This was in the case of both potential and placed ones! With minimal assistance from technology, they could rattle out relevant details required either by the hiring company [client] or internal manager.
• Down time.: Once the sun set on that particular day, the recruiter called closed his work accordingly. Since there were no hand-held devices to disturb them, they could go back home and spend time with their families or as they pleased. They didn’t have to worry being disturbed by their boss or client regarding the status of the opening till the next morning while they came back for work!

VII. Analysis of data:

This paper has been written after analyzing the conditions pertaining to traditional recruitment and issues that need to be addressed in the Industry 4.0 framework. All this has solely been done in the form of secondary data analysis that was available in the form of documents, published reports, etc. It made aware of the first industrial revolution which happened from the 18th century and till the early 19th century. Steam was being used as a source of producing energy which got supplanted by electricity during the second industrial revolution which emerged from the later part of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century. Automation became prominent during the latter half of the previous century and it has been affecting the recruitment in different ways. Apart from bringing an integral part of the ‘Industry 4.0’, secondary data analysis has made it aware that ‘bots’ , ‘cloud’, big data’ analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), IoT, VR, to name a few have become a part of the daily life and corporate jargon.

VIII. Challenges in recruitment:

Lack of skillsets is one of the major issues that companies face when they have to hire either a person or people for a vacancy. This has a direct bearing on the Human Resource function. Some vital and generic challenges that recruiters face in the current ‘4.0 age’ or have faced are listed herein: (8)

• Communication skills have always been a vital part of any job and gauging it is a part of the recruitment vertical under the Human Resources (HR) function. Most often, this is neglected during the ‘first cut’. Though aspirants maybe tech-savvy , it is necessary to keep in mind that communication skills have to be assessed on priority.
• There could be instances of a significant gulf existing between skills required for a particular opening and that which exists in the candidate. A proactive approach, therefore, has to be ensured by the HR department and/or the hiring team.
• Some industries have known to have high attrition percentages. To ensure the hired candidate sticks on to the job, the recruiter has to beforehand gauge whether they would remain in the job on a long-term basis or just for a few weeks. For this, efficient onboarding has to be ensured as research has revealed has a direct correlation to retention!
• The tendency of both current employees as well as prospective ones has always work for a “big-name” in the industry. Hence, they may submit their candidature to such enterprises. This makes Human Resource of those small names to come up with strategies to bring about an appeal in prospects as well as stay competitive in the job market.

IX. Recruitment in the social media era:

Technology has brought about both pros and cons to the staffing function. In our country, though technology has already made its debut, certain one’s that are vital for carrying out recruitment tend to be obsolete. Boolean search and job portals appear to be the only option for sourcing suitable candidates for vacancies. Social media hiring is yet to catch up. Even now, new age recruiters are being trained by giving them ghost written scripts that they blurt out while they call prospects. At the same time, head honchos of enterprises are still debating whether to earmark a budget for technology so that it aides in fast paced recruitment! As a result, unreceptive incumbents are targeted and, in most cases, recruiters find it difficult to handle voluminous data.

At the present, recruitment has to be keep itself abreast of changes occurring in the digital era. For this, they may have to resort to the following so that they are able to attract the right talent among the job seekers: (9)

• a)Targeted recruiting ads: Just as how one tends to search for a particular product upon seeing an ad, one will have to do the same for getting the appropriate candidate for the ‘open position’. From the recruiter point of view, the ad has to be posted keeping in mind the Job Description (JD), the correct key words and other relevant details. If these are taken care, they save precious time.
• b) Investment on Artificial Intelligence : AI, as it is referred to as, is known to considerably reduce hiring time for corporates. Natural language processing (NLP) and machine-learning algorithms are known to make the available openings to the public with considerable ease.
• c) Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Social media platforms such as Facebook for Business and LinkedIn Recruiter can be cited as examples that are SEO enabled and aid job aspirants to apply for jobs by being ‘mobile-optimized’.

Social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter has made it possible for prospective employers to reach out to incumbents. It has become a reality and a boon for companies starting from this century onwards. This kind of recruitment is carried out just like another function of the enterprise. Some of them also social media to gauge the skillsets of prospective employees as well as to conduct reference checks. Certain advanced tools have in fact enabled companies to foresee, evaluate and act on the data that they get of candidates. Example of LinkedIn can be cited here wherein it provides data of all possible candidates who maybe keen on joining and/or to which employer they have joined! All these and more have seen to increase in productivity of the recruitment team and HR department as a whole.

• It is evident that the last few years has seen a plethora of changes in the recruitment function. Apart from sweeping changes in technology, one can see the same in candidate behaviour as well. All these have contributed to the emergence of certain changes in recruitment especially in the digital marketing space. These have helped in carrying out candidate evaluation successfully and they are viz: (10)
• Candidate experience: The onus of corporates is to ensure a personalized communication strategy to candidates. If a prospective candidate feels good about a particular company, it means that they view it as a powerful ‘brand’. This in turn sees to enhancement of the profit of the business.
• Digital: It is necessary for companies to adapt to the digital mode of recruitment so that suitable talent maybe attracted. Apart from the Cv/ resume, companies tend to look into the social media accounts, website, blog etc. of aspirants to gain insights about them.
• Employer brand: It is evident that hunting for the right person for the right job is indeed a challenge. Competition is rampant and this brings about the need for employer branding. If a strong brand is developed, it becomes easy for the corporate to reach to the right prospects. This brings about the need for an effective Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to be in place. The EVP sees to stressing the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the company thereby bringing awareness about its salient plus points.

X. Few future trends in recruitment 4.0:

From the recruitment point of view, Industry 4.0 and Recruitment 4.0, few trends have emerged. These are known to have a significant impact on recruitment practices on a global scale and a sample of them are: (11)

Around 65% of the current school going populace do not have job functions as of now! This is because those jobs are yet to be created for them!

The renowned auditing firm PwC, through its report, predicts that the forthcoming year[2020] will see to widespread digitization. A huge jump has been predicted in the case of defense and aerospace sector wherein they are expected to reach 76% from the present 32%.

In America, Industry 4.0 is set to assume the status of an industry very soon! Certain businesses are earmarking a whopping US$907 billion annually towards it. They expect at least 55% return of the outlay!

XI. Conclusion:

In closing, it maybe said that Smart HR 4.0 or transformations in either Industry 4.0 or Recruitment 4.0 are necessary for both companies and industry alike. These technologies, though may appear as challenges, will certainly ensure radical changes in the HR function. A lean HR department would enable both the department and those associated with it to play a role that will be strategic in nature. This paper, though basic in nature, highlights the role of Industry 4.0 as well as Recruitment 4.0 and how changes in technology has brought subsequent changes in the recruitment function.

References:

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